(Fort Worth, Texas)…Dan McDonald, principal of Parker McDonald P.C., a Texas law firm representing plaintiffs seeking remedies for medical issues arising from hip implant failure, recently acknowledged the significance of the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) announcement that the panel has filed a transfer order consolidating all lawsuits involving DePuy Orthopaedic, Inc.’s Pinnacle Acetabular System hip implants in In Re:DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2244. The litigation will be overseen by the Honorable Judge James E. Kinkeade in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Texas.

    “After careful consideration of both the plaintiffs’ and defendants’ Motion to Transfer, the panel determined that since common questions are involved and for the convenience of parties and witnesses, pretrial hearings can be held in the Northern District of Texas,” said Mr. McDonald.

   The MDL Order stated, “On the basis of the papers filed and the hearing session held, we find that these three actions involve common questions of fact, and that centralization under Section 1407 will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation.”

   The lawsuits involved raise the questions of whether the Pinnacle Acetabular System, a device used in hip replacement surgery, was defectively designed and/or manufactured and whether defendants failed to provide adequate warnings concerning the device. These implants have been sold nationwide since their release into the market in 2002.    

    “The Pinnacle MDL was established less than a year after DePuy recalled its ASR hip implant system that was released in 2003,” Mr. McDonald explained.

    The company voluntarily withdrew the ASR hip implant from the Australian market in December, 2009, and from the United States market in August, 2010. The Pinnacle implant incorporates a metal-on-metal construction similar to DePuy’s ASR.

    Parker McDonald, P.C. represents DePuy hip implant patients across the country and has established www.hipimplantrecovery.com to provide the latest information for concerned DePuy ASR and Pinnacle hip implant patients and their families. The firm has offices in five Texas cities and is accessible via Twitter and Facebook. Website is www.ParkerMcDonaldLaw.com

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